Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-07-21
IHE GEHIEHHIlL HISTORY Or lHIl.
w.rAzRASD FELcH. ef
ICopu1phtsd. All rights reseTued.l


Inc chiet cause was the astronomer
factor. The orbit Of the earth 4 q,
elhpse. AT one time Of the wear IN
eartn Is 3.OOO,OOO miles nearer the sun thai
a, another, $50. Owing to the mil q
planets, tirst on one side then on The other
the earth's orbit has changed greatly in m
long course OF ages. ..... Inthe Glacial ao
It was 100000 TO 100000 miles avs,
from the sun at one time during the wear
which accounts for the intense cold
Owlng to the precision of the eauinoxes, frs
one hemisphere then the other has its winte
when II Is farthest of a... Two hundred
ana forty thousand years ago. the difference.
oetween tne distances was 100000 miles
remaining so for 10000 years. ACCORDING n
astronomy, and during that Deriod was In,
last Tiacial era. For the past 30,0Ot
years there has hence been a change in eli
mate, growing warmer and eouable
Durlng about half of the 1soOno glacial wear.
was the period of most intense cold, rreat
enough ~ 10 accumulate perennial ice In
suas ,9v.VOO years the circuit of the equinoxe;
h houiu De completed four times, giving each
IH;ispnere four inter glacial eras, (when the
snhar Sahoer or ice-sheet changed from one hemi.
,1ha,, 70 tne Other of 10.500 years each
70 ba, II tnls theory is true, the climate ought
70 nave been as mild and eouable at one
e1sreme as at the other extreme IL was cold.
a. MAS mas evidently and palpably existed
On tnls continent since the close of the last
HlaciaI era, $1,000 years ago. Archao-
loglsts assume that America is older than
Europe OF Asia; that the fora and fauna of
TINS continent are more aged than in
Europe....' Buried forests and submer-
gencIes prove this. Man also is more
ancient on this continent than on any other
tne. Oldest remains of man that have been
iouno The aboriginal inhabitants of
tnls a country were of an older race than those
VI any other country, as is proven from the
: nosence OF any remains of the Bronze Age in
S1is country, the natives having never learn
go . now to compose bronze of tin and conner
puG used the native copper, which they could
Tnpa as moderns do steel at this time.-
- onneny ana bateman and others gave this
Of "s a. prooi tnat America was, peopled by one
on the Oldest colonies of Atlantis, while the
later colonies that peopled Europe from
Atlantis knew how to make bronze and in
troduced 1t into Europe. But this is merely
a theory. 1t is also held that this continent
was formerly united to Asia in ancient times,
ana Glacial man may have come over by
land, or by ice, or by boats, or by islands, or
6y all these means. It is established that
the animals OF this country came from Asia
oy such various routes, or else they must
nave oeen indigenous in the land. The
rather assumed by reason of deep-sea sound
lngs and other evidence, and of course it
pling of America. '''O p00
o. ~ mast, however, remain an open
question how America was peopled, after ali,
rs so many theories are advanced which can
not be proven directly or indirectly, and
must perhaps always remain hypothesis. It
Y = not lt OF much consequence to consider them
y TINS stage OF inquiry. 1t is we'll. however
o give them respent or the benefit of
If the doubt. The Caye-dwellers we
,now existed, but the Mound-builders were
ne nrst authentic inhabitants of America
ma we now pass on to consideration of
hem.
oHAPTER IH.-THE oUND-BUILDERs.
We come now naturally to the considera-
ion of the Mound-builders. Noapproximate
'stimate can be made as to the time of their
ldvent. nor can we safely say, as yet, in
What direction they reached the Ohio Valley,
lespite the varied theories of Donnelly,
Ninchell and Leland, who all give different
,rigin and mode of arrival.
As the history of the Mound d-builders is
ret unwritten, (save in such works as the late
Prof. Shorts "North Americans of Antiqui
"" Baldwin's "Ancient America" and other
but tentative works which we
ave consulted and shall mention anon) it is |
ertainly matter for congratulation that so |
many traces of this people yet remain within |
he boundaries of the State of Ohio. In this |
tate alone their works are approximately |
at 10000, but they doubtless far
xceeded that number at the time of the
dvent of the white people.
Their monuments or remains consist of
figies and enclosures mainly, besides the
colossal mounds, which are the three general
lasses.. Mounds may be subdivided into
)epulchral, Sacriicial, aTruncated Temple,
observation and Memorial or Monumental. |
The effigies are called animal mounds, being !
haped like animals. The enclosures were
defensive works; another class was composed |
f defensive ways or parallel embankments, |
nd third class, of sacred enclosures. Some |
re doubtless military ramparts, others per-
aps surrounded the residences of the reign
ng monarch; and perhaps others were for
grounds or for religious rites or |
ceremonies. 1t is popularity that most of |
hese remains are composed of earth entirely. |
few of stone, and fewer still of earth and |
tone together. Sepulchral mounds were
onical in form and are more numerous than |
ny other kinds; they range from a small |
ltitude to seventy feet in hight and always
ontain one or more skeletons, or parts
hereof, or evidences of being used as burial |
,laces. Some antiquarians maintain that
he size of the mound bears a certain relation
o the importance of the person when living,
vho was inferred there. It is a common
ustom among later Indian tribes. when pass
ng the grave of one of their chiefs to throw
stone on the grave, so that in time a
Mound or pile of stones accumulates over the
,rave. Perhaps this custom has been trans
nitted from the Mound Builders to their
uccessors, and perpetuates some ancient
In sepulchral mounds are often found i'm
dement's and ornaments. The Indians have
he same traditions, indulging in the same
under the superstition that the
Weapons will be of use in Nthe happy
iunting ground" Fire was also often
ised In burial rites, as Is clearly
proven by the fact that charcoal is often if
lot always found in close proximity to skele-
,ons of Mound Builders; ashes, smoked stones
md other traces of FIRE in these rude sep
1lches render it probable that fire was em-
ployed in their burial ceremonies. Mica is
also often found in close proximity to the
skeletons, aswell as pottery, bone and copper
generally contain but "a limited num-
Der of skeletons: often single one. Prof.
Marsh, of the Sheffield Scientific School, con-
nected with Yale College, "a few years ago
opened one in Licking county which con-
tanned seventeen skeltonsi in whole or in part.
The most remarkable of all the mounds in the
State, in this respect, was one in Hardin
county In which were three hundred skeletons.
A doubt has however been expressed that
these were all Mound Builders skeletons-as
it is we'll known that Indians frequently buri-
ed their dead on or near the mounds. Prof.
f. w. Putnam calls attention to cemetery
seven acres in extent discovered on point Of
land ing the Little Miami river, near which
was an ancient village site, the latter being